Skin Deep
by kaeliaa
Summary: Whilst on the Polar Tang heading towards Wano, the pirates and Wano natives face a sudden food shortage. They decide to raid a marine ship for supplies and stumble across a young woman being held captive onboard. It doesn't matter much, at least until Bepo swears that she was a Mink from Zou and it turns out that the 'marine' ship they're on is something way worse. Law x OC
1. Prologue

AN and Disclaimer:

Heya everyone! I've been thinking of writing a One Piece fanfiction recently, so I decided to give it a shot. The story is a bit slow so **FYI** you'll only see my OC in short snippets until **Chapter 4** where you'll actually get to read from her POV. I wanted to be loyal to the amount of detail that goes into each One Piece arc so I wanted to give readers a view of what the other characters are doing besides my own. If you just wanted to have a glimpse of what my OC is like, you can head on over to Chapter 4, though I do still recommend reading the initial chapters if not you might have trouble understanding what's going on. Do enjoy! (:

This work is purely fictional. Do not associate the events and characters in this book with real-life situations or people.

I do not own the characters of the anime and manga 'One Piece', however Mint, Clover and multiple other characters are my own creation. I do not own the idea of the anime and manga 'One Piece' and all rights are reserved to Eiichiro Oda.

This book takes place after the Zou arc and follows the other half of the Strawhats, the Heart Pirates and others who are heading to the Wano Country, so spoilers may be given.

* * *

A sharp prick to her side was all it took for her own body to disown her. Her muscles relaxed against her will, and she slumped against the ground barely conscious. A few clicking sounds later, the heaviness weighing down her hands released. She heaved her body upwards, trying to crawl away but her movements were sluggish and her mind was still hazy from another dosage they had given her earlier.

Her head was roughly jerked up from the ground. A hand wrapped in a thick dirty rag forced open her mouth and the sharp metallic taste that followed almost made her gag. A single pill was pushed to the back of her tongue and she tried, she tried not to swallow. But her natural reflex was faster and her throat muscles contracted. She collapsed into a coughing fit.

Her body was rarely her own anymore.

Usually, she would've put up more of a fight, desperately trying to stay alert for an opening that she could use to her advantage. But gradually as the days passed and as much as she tried to vehemently deny it, a small part of her began to welcome the sensation of numbness; her consciousness drifting towards memories of happier days.

"One day we should set out to sea together!" a soft girlish giggle echoed in her ears.

"You really think so?" she heard her own voice reply in surprise.

"Of course!" a gentle smile flashed at her. "You'll miss me if I don't come!"

Even against the haze of her mind, she could feel her throat tighten and her body convulsing. She couldn't tell whether it was the pill or the tears streaming down her lengthening muzzle. Her dirty skin split like tree bark, and fine white hair sprouted in its place. A few spasms later and she was still, save for her flank rising and falling to the rhythm of her labored breathing. Someone lifted her off the ground, a little gentler now in comparison to before, dumping her limp body into a cart.

"It's a promise right Clover?" she murmured, almost unable to tell hallucinations from reality. Her vision blurred and she could only see the silhouette of a young mink in front of her.

"Definitely!"


	2. The Scent of Zou

Law was finding it hard to relax. Seeing as they were to be going up against Kaidou, one of the four yonko, he felt that any kind of restlessness was justified. He couldn't say the same though, for the rest of his crew or alliance who had been frolicking around since the start of their trip. Even without their obnoxious captain, the remaining half of the Strawhats were as carefree as ever, to the point that Law was almost worried it might become a bad influence to his own crew, if it hadn't been already.

Then again, logic would be on their side for this round. Constantly getting worked up over Kaidou wasn't going to help – they were still days away from actually reaching the Wano Country anyway and he should be getting some much-needed rest after Dressrosa. His arm although mostly functional, hasn't completely healed yet and his mind was still weary from everything that has happened so far.

The dark-haired man forced himself to relax, slouching further into his chair and tried to focus on his book. He barely made it through half a paragraph though before a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Captain!" he heard an exclamation coming from the entrance of the library and looked over to see a large white polar bear peering out from behind the door.

"What?" Law asked without even putting down his book. Just as he was getting into it.

"Our ship is running low on supplies and food," the white bear reported wearily as he slumped towards the ground. A low grumble sounded across the library, coming from his stomach. Law sighed as he stood up, placing his book back onto the table and walked towards the door. "How long till we reach the next island?" He asked as he stepped out of the small room into the corridor.

They passed by the kitchen and he noticed through the window that the three Wano natives were inside. They had steaming cups of tea in their hand and were tending to curious questions from his own crew members. Most of the questions seemed to be directed at Raizo the ninja though, not that Law blamed them.

"The next island is still quite far off so the Strawhats are attempting to fish for dinner," Bepo replied, bringing his attention back to the white polar bear. He unfurled a map in his paws and checked the log pose. There was a moment of silence before he looked up from his map sharply with realization on his face, "ah, I almost forgot to mention. We'll be running into some fog soon, but it should pass rather quickly."

Law nodded in acknowledgment before pushing open the entrance to the submarine. All of the Strawhats were outside, though only two out of the four were actually fishing. Their dark-haired archaeologist, Nico Robin, was having a cup of tea as she leaned against the railing of the deck. She noticed them almost immediately, greeting them with a warm smile.

A loud yawn caught his attention and he noticed their swordsman, Zoro, taking a nap in the corner without so much of an acknowledgment of their presence. The other two Strawhats, Franky and Usopp were holding fishing rods. The long-nosed man was sitting on the edge of the railing while the other stood against it. Franky's weight was probably too heavy for the railing to support should he sit down completely on it. They were deep in discussion about something, but the larger man broke off the conversation as soon as he noticed Law.

"Ow!" he greeted them rather loudly. "Don't you worry Toraro, we'll have a _super_ dinner caught in a bit!" he then proceeded to pull his arms together in the air and leaned to the side with one of his knees bent. It was one of his signature poses that he did at random, not that Law understood why.

"Woah!" Usopp cried out. As Franky was distracted, the fishing rod right beside him jerked and almost fell off the edge. The younger man made a lunge for it, managing to catch it in time. "Franky you've got one!" His eyes sparkled with excitement as he tugged back on the bending rod. "It seems pretty huge!"

" _Super_!" the large cyborg man exclaimed again as he took over the fishing rod. "I can almost see it, that fish looks _HUGE,_ it might even last us all the way till Wano! Keep pulling it!" Usopp cheered.

With a loud roar, Franky exerted all his strength to pull up the rod and then…

 _SNAP_

There was a loud noise and followed by gasps around the whole deck. Even Zoro opened his one eye to see what the fuss was about. The fishing rod had snapped into half with all the power that Franky was using. Usopp desperately reached for the second half that had the fish hooked, but it was just a little short and the rod fell into the water with a quiet 'plop'.

Everyone just stared for a moment, before Usopp and Franky lowered their heads in depression. A low growl sounded across the submarine's deck as the smaller man's stomach complained about the lack of food.

"I've failed all of you," Franky wailed as he sobbed into one of his gigantic arms.

"This is it," Usopp moaned as he pounded the deck with his bare fists. "We're gonna starve to death in the middle of the ocean."

"I wonder if the fish will pick our bones clean." Robin wondered out loud in a curious tone.

"Don't say that!" The long-nosed man exclaimed in protest, breaking his pose to look up sharply at his crewmate.

Law sighed as he turned away and tugged the rim of his hat downwards. This seemed like the usual antics of the Strawhats. "We can think about what to do about our shortage inside, a fog is starting to build up." He pointed out, jabbing his thumb towards the horizon where a vast blanket of grey was slowly but surely creeping up towards them.

"Alright." Robin chuckled as she stood up from her leaning position. The rest soon followed suit.

Usopp retained his pose on the ground for a moment. He was so hungry he felt like he was definitely going to die on this ship. Getting up slowly, he sighed. Well, Law might think of something later, he figured. He stood up and turned towards the submarine entrance but not before seeing something out of the corner of his eyes. "Oi, isn't that a ship?" He asked out loud, facing back towards the sea and raising a hand over his eyes. He squinted at the silhouette in the nearing fog.

His question caused everyone to pause and turn back for a moment. True enough, there was a hazy shadow of a ship in the fog. It was a little far away but if he squinted hard enough there was a hint of two outstretched lines on the flag. "It looks like a marine sail!" he yelped as he jumped backwards.

"A Marine ship huh." Robin tilted her head thoughtfully as she placed a finger on her chin. "Wouldn't a Marine ship have a lot of provisions on it?"

"You want to raid it?" Usopp asked in disbelief. He already knew the meaning of his crewmate's words, and his brain was already churning out all the worst outcomes possible. It was just a habit of his he couldn't stop.

"Possibly, unless you can guarantee dinner with that." The dark-haired woman smiled as she gestured to the one remaining fishing rod left.

"Screw that," Zoro joined the conversation with a smirk. "I bet the Marines have booze on board."

No wonder they were notorious for attracting trouble, Law thought to himself. He had to admit that this seemed like the most secure way to get a decent stash of food for the remaining days though, it was still at least a three-day trip to get to Wano. They couldn't just rely on a single fishing rod to feed almost thirty people for three days.

"Ooh, did you guys manage to catch anything?" a voice greeted them as they re-entered the submarine. Kin'emon, Kanjuro, and Raizo had left the kitchen and seemed to be on their way to join the rest outside on the deck.

"Almost did but the rod was too weak to handle my _super_ strength!" Franky replied before scratching the back of his head. "Sorry about that."

"Not to worry, a samurai never gets hungry." Kin'emon declared proudly. A loud growl then emerged from his stomach, echoing across the submarine hallway. "That was definitely not my stomach," he added.

"It's alright, there's a marine ship up ahead," Robin chuckled. "We should be able to get some supplies and food without them even noticing."

"If we're going to do this, we'll do it in a small group," Law announced. It didn't seem too much of a hassle to steal some food and go. With his ability, it should be a breeze. They shouldn't even need to take longer than thirty minutes. "I'll go with Bepo, Nico-ya, and Nose-ya," Law decided and the Strawhat swordsman let out a small 'tch' at that which he ignored. They couldn't let Zoro go, it was too risky for him to get lost in a Marine ship, and Franky was a little too huge for a stealth mission.

"Aye aye, Captain!" Bepo enthusiastically replied, seeming excited to get out of the stuffy submarine.

"I'm going?" Usopp pointed to himself in bewilderment before composing himself. "Y- yeah there's no way you guys would be able to do it without the great Usopp-sama." He chuckled with confidence that seemed to be more for reassuring himself rather than anyone else.

They waited near the entrance as the submarine crept closer and closer towards the ship and finally came to a stop beside it. "Ah, before you go, the pantry is most likely underneath the deck," Franky looked upwards as he searched his memories. "I used help build and repair some Marine ships back in the day and their layout is usually more or less the same."

Law nodded in acknowledgment, "thanks, Robo-ya."

The small group of four stepped out onto the deck, a slight chill in the fog around them. "I'll check for people onboard just before we go." Robin smiled before closing her eyes and raising her arms into an 'x' shape. _"Ojos Fleur."_

Up on the larger ship's deck, a single eye blossomed out of a piece of wood and looked around.

"Seems like the ship is quite deserted, there're a few guards standing by on the left side of the cabins and some are emerging from a room on top… But other than that, the right side of the front cabin should be safe." Robin finally said as she relaxed her pose and turned towards them. "Alright," Law noted as he raised his palm. " _Room."_

" _Shambles."_

With that simple phrase, all four of them were up on the larger ship's deck, on the other side of the cabin from where the guards were. "It's quite a huge ship isn't it," Usopp commented in a hushed tone. The sails loomed above them, looking quite ominous in the fog and quiet clinking sounds came from a well-lit room on the second floor of the cabin. The stairs were right below it. They quietly moved towards the edge of the cabin, preparing to make a run for it. Just as they were about to run across the deck, Law stopped them.

"Damn the food was good tonight," a voice announced and a couple of Marines emerged from the room on the second floor of the cabin. The clinking sounds got louder and small chatter could be heard as the door opened. Seemed like that was the dining room and it was dinner time.

"I know right, it's good that Aecus-sama is in a good mood," another Marine replied with a laugh.

Usopp felt his stomach growl at the mention of food and a single Marine glanced over in the general direction of where they were crouching behind the wall.

"Did you hear a growl of some sort?" he asked as he tried to peer over.

Everyone stiffened. A trickle of sweat crept down Usopp's forehead.

"No, you probably had too much booze," the group of Marines laughed. "The last time we checked there weren't any animals on this ship."

"Damn, I didn't even drink that much," the smaller man laughed it off and they moved off in a group. "Can't wait till the fog lifts so we can finally set sail again," their voices trailed off as they disappeared around the corner.

After glaring at a sheepish Usopp, Law gestured for the small group to continue. Quickly and quietly, they ran across the deck towards the entrance of the staircase. However, in the middle of the deck Bepo stopped running, something having caught his attention. "Bepo," Law quietly called, and the polar bear joined them by the side of the stairs. "Capt-" the bear started, but then was quickly hushed by Law. "Sorry…" he mumbled. "So weak!" Usopp whispered under his breath in shock.

They inched down the stairs slowly, hearing more voices coming from the hallway. "Capt-" Bepo tried again, but Law sharply raised his hand in a gesture that made him fall into a soft apology instead. Usopp stared at the polar bear mink in disbelief, such a large animal was so sensitive!

Focusing his attention to the front, Law peered carefully around the corner and saw a young man in a doctor's coat. He was speaking to a lady who was carrying a small tray of medical equipment. "I'm worried that we might not have enough sedatives for the remainder of the trip," the presumably would-be doctor said as he shed his latex gloves unto the medical tray.

"Perhaps we can slightly reduce the amount of sedatives that we're using?" the lady suggested quietly.

"I was thinking of that too, but I'm worried that Aecus-sama might notice," the doctor replied. He looked around warily before leaning in closer to the young woman and lowered his voice. "I have a family back in South Blue… So I can't afford to…" he trailed off before standing up and shaking his head. "We'll see what we can do," he said, ending the conversation. "Pass me the lock."

The young lady handed him a large lock and he stepped aside, revealing a bundle of chains that had been wrapped around the handles of the door. Hooking the lock through the chains, he snapped it shut and then wiped a bead of sweat that was trickling down his face. "Alright, we're done here," he said and the pair walked off down the hallway. They finally disappeared around a corner and the soft chatter died off to a silence.

Once all was clear, Law stood up straight and gestured towards one end of the hall. "Bepo and I will head down this way, Nico-ya and Nose-ya, you go down the other direction." The two Strawhats nodded and the small group split into two.

Now, Law finally turned around to address whatever concern his crewmate had. "What is it Bepo?"

"It's just…" The polar bear trailed off as he wandered into the passageway, with his eyes closed and nose pointed into the air. "I can smell Zou here."

"Zou?" Law repeated, raising his eyebrow as he followed his crewmate.

"Yep," Bepo turned back to look at him. "I smelt it just as we entered this ship, but I thought it was my imagination." The polar bear moved forward towards the chained door. "But then as we entered the staircase I could smell the draft from below, and amongst all the other smells there was a faint scent that _really_ smelt like Zou."

There was a moment as they stood outside the chained door before a loud 'thump' sound came from behind it, followed by a slight scuffling sound.

"I know this isn't on our agenda but I'm worried," the polar bear looked towards his captain, his eyes clearly concerned.

Law sighed, he couldn't refuse Bepo's request.

" _Room,"_ he murmured. _"Shambles."_

And just like that, the heavy lock was gone.

After placing the chains quietly on the floor, Law pushed open the door slowly. He had one hand on the Kikoku just in case whatever that was inside wasn't friendly.

Just as he pushed open the doorway, a slight movement on the ground caught his eye. Something caught hold of his ankle and he glanced down sharply, drawing the Kikoku to his assaulter's neck. There was a pause before his attacker slowly looked up. Disorientated amber eyes darted across his face and body, undecided as to where to focus on. Law withdrew his sword and squatted down to get a better look at the young woman that was sprawled on the floor. He gently lifted up her chin towards him and noticed that her half-closed eyes that had finally settled on him were unnaturally dull.

'Drugged' was the first word that entered his mind and he recalled the short conversation between the doctor and nurse that they had overheard before.

"She smells like Zou, and medicine." Bepo stated as he too bent down to get a closer look at the strange dark-haired woman. Her mouth moved, a sliver of saliva trickling out of the corner of her mouth. She was about to say something. The polar bear leaned in closer.

"C… Clover…" she breathed, her voice cracking into a weak sob at the end. Bepo's ears pricked up at the name.

"I think… I know who she is," he said as he straightened up, but his expression was still as confused as before. "She… Was a mink from Zou."


	3. Mariejois

Trafalgar Law was not one who was surprised easily. He had a plan for almost every situation and was as calm and collected as cool could get. He didn't think his crewmates were stupid either, they may be wild and playful at times, but definitely not stupid. In this situation however, he had just recovered from a mildly surprised expression and was currently surveying the younger polar bear mink beside him. He quietly wondered if perhaps the Strawhats' idiocy had finally rubbed off on his own crew, when Bepo caught him staring.

"Sorry," he mumbled as he dropped his head without a fight, feeling his captain judge him silently.

Law sighed as he dropped the woman's chin and shook his head, "Bepo, she's human."

He glanced back at the young woman who had finally passed out at his feet, her fingers loosely curled around his ankle. Though he had to admit that her attire – a laced up cream dress with a torn and tattered olive-green cape draped around her neck – looked extremely similar to the style of the female guardians back on Zou. He didn't think Bepo would lie for no reason either, but it didn't seem to make sense that she was a Mink back on Zou when he could see with his own eyes that she was clearly human.

"I'm so sorry…" Bepo apologized again, looking towards the ground with his ears down. His captain had a point, she _was_ clearly human. He sniffed the air again just in case his nose had made a mistake. There was definitely a faint scent of lush greenery and rich soils combined with a heavy muskiness. That musky smell was from Zunisha's skin, a scent unique to Zou. The polar bear sighed wondering if perhaps he might've confused it with the heavy stench within the ship.

Law glanced at the pair of handcuffs on her wrists, before rolling her unto her back carefully. He placed two fingers on her neck, checking her pulse. Her breathing was a little calmer now that she had passed out, but her heartbeat was dangerously slow. He deftly pulled back one of her eyelids and studied it for a moment, before moving on to thumb open her mouth.

Bepo still had a strange feeling that he somehow knew her. It wasn't about the fact that she knew Clover anymore or that she smelt like Zou, he felt like he had personally met her before but couldn't quite put a finger on it. His first thought was to save her and ask questions later, he didn't want to leave a fellow Zou native to die here regardless, but he had no idea how to bring it up to his captain. The white polar bear glanced at the young man beside him who was still in the middle of studying the strange woman.

"Capt-" Bepo started before Law suddenly spoke, cutting him off midway.

"We can figure it out later after we've treated her," he said decisively as he stood up. Law already knew what his crewmate was thinking without needing the other to sound it out. Minks were extremely loyal to their friends, to the point that they'll even die and let their city be wrecked just for their friends' sake. It would make sense that Bepo felt an obligation to save this fellow Zou native. Law continued, "there's something strange about the drugs she's been given anyway, I want to have a closer look."

"Captain!" the polar bear mink exclaimed with tears in his eyes. His Captain may not look the part, but the polar bear knew that he had a warm heart when it comes down to it.

"First, we need to find the keys to her handcuffs," Law said as he gestured towards her wrists. "It's made out of kairouseki, so my powers won't work on it."

"Kairouseki?" Bepo repeated as he tilted his head. "Could she be a devil fruit user?"

"Most likely," Law replied as he carried the woman to a single bed that was provided within the small bare room. "We'll come back for her later, carrying her around would be too much of a hassle to stay stealthy with."

Back outside, he easily replaced back the chains and lock with his ability before surveying his surroundings. Nothing seemed out of place and it looked like the Marines still hadn't noticed anything wrong. "Let's go Bepo."

Meanwhile, at the other end of the ship, Robin and Usopp were hiding out behind a wall. They had managed to find the pantry quite easily, but they didn't expect there would be someone stationed to guard it. The two Strawhats ducked further behind the wall as a couple of chefs walked past and were granted access after some friendly chatter.

"What should we do now Robin?" Usopp whispered urgently. "There's no way we can get in as it is!"

When the other didn't reply, he glanced back to check on her and saw her opening another room door nearby.

"We could use these, possibly," the dark-haired lady gestured towards something inside the room as she stepped aside for Usopp to look in.

Usopp quietly walked over and peered inside, his eyes lighting up as he saw what Robin had found. "Nice find, Robin!" he exclaimed in a hushed voice while giving her a thumbs up.

A few moments later, two Marines walked over to the guy that was situated outside the pantry. Giving him a casual, polite nod as they passed by, the guard gave them a short glance but didn't say anything as they walked right in.

"Woah, that was super easy!" Usopp whispered excitedly as soon as the guard was out of earshot. Thank goodness the laundry area was situated so closely to the food, it was pretty easy to snag a couple of Marine uniforms to pass off as them. "This place is absolutely packed with food!"

All around them were shelves and shelves of food that could easily last any able-bodied crew for a week or so, perhaps even longer if they rationed. It was so abundant that it was borderline luxurious for a simple Marine ship. Meat, vegetables, seafood, grains… You name it.

Usopp grabbed two sacks from the side of the pantry and nodded to Robin who brought her hands up in her signature 'x' pose.

" _Veinte Fleur,"_ she quietly said, and multiple hands started to sprout from the shelves. One by one they started to pick up food from the shelves and pass it downwards towards the two sacks. Usopp stood by the door, keeping watch in case the guard decided to pay them a visit.

Once they had packed as much as they could carry without being too inconspicuous, the two tried to leave the pantry as discreetly and casually as two huge sacks on their backs would allow them to. They passed by the guard who immediately took notice of the amount of food they were carrying out.

"Where are you going with that?" he suddenly spoke out before they could even take ten steps down the hallway.

The two "marines" froze.

"We were requested by the captain to throw out any spoilt food," Usopp turned around and reported confidently. The guard eyed them up and down suspiciously.

"The captain did?" he asked as he stood up slowly and started walking towards them.

"S-Some Marines had fallen ill due to food poisoning, so he suspects that some food may have gone bad over our trip," Usopp continued, trying not to lose his cool as the guard loomed over them intimidatingly. Now that he wasn't sitting down anymore, Usopp could see that he was a large man easily twice his size, with muscles bulging out of his arms.

"A-Ah," Usopp stammered, avoiding eye contact as he tried to think up another excuse to escape this precarious situation.

"And are you going to take responsibility should Aecus-sama fall ill?" Robin cut in coolly without batting her eyelids.

The guard looked taken aback at the mention of the name before his expression changed to one of uncertainty. There was a moment of silence as he contemplated what to do but eventually, it seemed like he decided not to pursue the matter. Giving them a dismissive wave, he turned back around and started walking back to his seat.

Usopp let out a breath he had been holding in and looked at his crewmate in delight. "Robin!" he exclaimed in a hushed tone of delight as they quickly made their way out of there, in case the guard changed his mind. Then his expression changed into one of confusion, "but how did you find out…?" he trailed off.

"Back on deck when we were hiding, the Marine soldiers mentioned the name, 'Aecus-sama' did they not?" Robin smiled. "And when we went under deck, it was pretty clear that the doctor and nurse were having a dilemma as to whether to go against orders or not, it was quite easy to come to a conclusion that whoever is in charge is quite scary."

"Oh, that's true," Usopp rubbed his chin as he remembered the conversation that the young doctor and his nurse was having earlier. "Anyway, if this 'Aecus' is as scary as they make him out to be, we should find Law and quickly get out of here."

Robin nodded, and they hurriedly made their way back to where the group had split.

Back on the Polar Tang, Franky, Zoro, a couple of Heart Pirates as well as the Wano natives were waiting onboard the deck to help out if needed when the group of four returned.

"It's been almost 20 minutes," Franky commented as he scratched the back of his head. "I wonder if they might be having any trouble."

"Trouble might be fun," Zoro yawned as he slumped further down into his sitting position. "Though they better get back soon though if they want to be discreet, the fog is clearing up," he opened one eye to glance at their surroundings. The thick fog was still present but noticeably clearing up slowly.

Franky hummed thoughtfully as he gazed up at the large ship that was looming over them, looking out for any signs of the small group. His focus trailed off a little as he started to examine the larger ship from where he was standing. It was just his natural inclination as a shipwright. It was pretty huge for a Marine ship, though there was something about it that seemed a little off. Even through the fog, he could tell that the ship's design seemed a little too flashy for a Marine ship. Peering over the railings, he could see the silhouette of some kind of figurehead mounted on a silver plaque at the head of the ship. Franky studied it closely. The muzzle of an animal poked out from the side and if he squinted enough through the clearing fog, he could make out some hints of gold and blue décor around it.

"Oi oi, this isn't funny," the cyborg announced as he came to a chilling realization.

Zoro immediately opened his eye at his crewmate's alarmed voice, "what's going on Franky?"

"This ain't a Marine ship," Franky turned towards the rest slowly, his face solemn, "it's the ship of a Tenryuubito."

The Strawhat swordsman sat up instantly, "are you sure Franky?"

Franky paused for a moment, before replying, "see that silver plaque at the front of the ship? Tenryuubitos always travel with their family mark mounted on it, and I'd recognize the blue and gold décor around it anywhere. It might be possible we saw the wrong symbol due to the fog."

"That can't be good," Zoro stood up as he eyed the ship next to them, sliding his katanas into his sword holder. "I'll go check on them," he said, and without waiting for a response, he deftly leaped unto the next ship and disappeared from sight.

"Zo-" Franky tried to call him back, but then trailed off as soon as the other was out of sight. There was a moment before he exclaimed in horror, "Zoro is the _super worst_ person that can attempt to find them!"

At the other end of the ship, Law and Bepo were almost done scouting the remainder of the rooms that haven't been searched.

"Seems like most of these are just sleeping areas," Bepo commented as he closed the door to another dormitory. "Maybe we should head back, Usopp and Robin might have already gotten the food."

Law didn't respond, peering inside another room from the door window. As soon as he deemed it empty, he pushed open the room door to take a look inside. Glancing around, there were multiple shelves of books and a large table with a map on it inside. No food. This was probably the maps room. He made a 'tsk' sound and was just about to exit the room when something shiny on the table caught his eye. Pushing the door further open again, he stepped into the room cautiously and picked up the object. It was an eternal pose, glinting in the candlelight.

"An eternal pose!" Bepo commented from outside the room as he peered in to see what his captain was doing. "Where does it lead to?"

There was silence before Law finally replied, "Mariejois."


	4. Escape

AN: Hello everyone, I didn't think about leaving an AN before because I didn't think people would actually read my story, but since there's been a few follows / reads and stuff do feel free to let me know what you guys think by leaving a review or something :P Thank you for reading!

* * *

"Where is this?" Zoro grumbled as he looked at his surroundings. He had somehow ended up on the far end of the ship at the side of a huge fancy cabin. Fancy was clearly an understatement though; the wooden doors were painted white and had decorative figures intricately carved into the vibrant gold and navy-blue frame. If this was any other ship it would be as if it was asking to be robbed, Zoro thought to himself. He brushed the thought aside and turned towards the deck.

There were a couple of Marines stationed around the deck, though it seemed like there were fewer Marines than there ought to be… He turned his eye towards the second floor across the deck where quiet chatter and laughing sounds came from another brightly lit cabin. Zoro could just about make out the silhouettes of Marines having their dinner – no wonder.

Before he could even think about where to start looking for his comrades, a loud condescending voice sounded from the cabin right beside him. The swordsman quickly ducked further behind the wall as the polished white doors opened.

"Guh, you Marines are all so repugnant, get out of my sight so that I can cross the deck in peace," the owner of the voice said with clear disdain.

"My apologies Aecus-sama, please do wait a moment," another frantic voice replied.

Zoro peered out from behind the wall, his one eye narrowing at what he saw. He'd recognize that stupid outfit anywhere. The long white robes, ridiculous looking helmet and that obnoxious hair curl that was styled upwards. It was the Tenryuubito. He was a stick thin dark-haired man, with eyebrows so thin that they were barely visible. Sandwiched between two bulky guards, he talked down scornfully to another man that seemed to be the one in charge of the ship.

Looks like Franky was right about the World Noble, Zoro thought to himself as he watched the captain quickly herding away all the Marines on deck into the dining hall or elsewhere out of sight. After a few hushed orders and another hasty apology from the captain to the Tenryuubito, the whole ship fell silent.

"Guh, I can't believe I'm stuck on this ghastly ship with a bunch of sweaty Marines," the Tenryuubito grumbled to himself as he beckoned to one of his guards and pointed towards the floor. Without the slightest bit of hesitation, the guard went down on all fours and the thin man clambered onto his back. Once secured, the World Noble clapped his hands once and the guard rose from the floor, crawling out of the room. Zoro gritted his teeth in disgust. What a bastard, he wouldn't even walk on the same floor the Marines walked on.

The Tenryuubito took his time to cross the deck. Meanwhile, a door on the highest level of the opposite cabin opened and a small group of uniformed maids and butlers gathered outside in a horizontal line to await his arrival. To the swordsman, it just seemed ridiculous that such a mediocre act of moving from one end of the ship to the other required so much effort and wasted time, but he had no choice but to sit quietly and wait.

Once the Tenryuubito had _finally_ been received in the most _grandiose_ way possible and disappeared into the room, Zoro realized that he was alone on the deck. He glanced at the cabin he was standing next to. This was obviously the Tenryuubito's room. And there might be a staircase inside it (he completely missed the staircase that was literally right below him if he had just looked towards the front). Besides, seeing how convenient the World Noble had made it for him by making the Marines leave their post, it seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up.

Back downstairs, the original group of four had gathered up again at the bottom of said staircase that Zoro had missed.

"Woah! With this amount of food, we would definitely be able to make it to Wano!" Bepo exclaimed softly as he excitedly eyed up the two sacks of food that the Strawhats had brought with them. He licked his lips and swallowed the saliva that was already pooling in his mouth in anticipation.

"Good work, Nose-ya, Nico-ya," Law nodded in approval before glancing at the top of the staircase. Things had become strangely quiet outside whilst they were gone. Did the Marines notice them? That couldn't be, if they had noticed them they would be swarming them in numbers by now. If his deduction was right and this was really a Tenryuubito's ship, they wouldn't need to wait and quietly lay a trap of some sort since they already had such a huge advantage.

"Of course! The great Usopp-sama never disappoints!" Usopp grinned as he rubbed the area under his nose smugly with his index finger. "Though we should quickly get out of here, it seems like the person in charge might be dangerous," he added hastily, dropping his confident demeanor.

"Naturally," Law replied coolly. He decided that they were probably still undetected and the cause of silence might be due to the rest of the Marines having headed for dinner. The dark-haired man made his way towards the room where the strange girl was being kept and shot them a placid glance, "this is a Tenryuubito's ship after all."

"Yeah yeah, a Ten- Wait what?" Usopp almost yelled but not before he forcefully slapped his own hands to his mouth. His eyes darted towards the entrance of the staircase in fear that someone might've heard him.

"This happens to be the ship of a Tenryuubito," the captain of the heart pirates continued, seemingly unconcerned. "There were a couple of eternal poses in the navigation room that led to Mariejois and a few other indicators."

After finding a map of the ship's layout in the navigation room as well, it was pretty self-evident that this was a World Noble's ship. There were several rooms onboard that were solely dedicated to just host Tenryuubitos and Tenryuubitos only. The figurehead design of an animal head on top of a silver plaque was also unmistakably a Tenryuubito's crest. The entire ship was swathed in the colors blue and gold and the mark on the sails which they thought was the Marine's symbol at first was actually the World Government's insignia. This was obviously not an ordinary ship.

Usopp had to take deep breaths to stop himself from collapsing onto the floor in an anxious fit. If they were caught here they would be at the mercy of a Marine Admiral. And although they had trained very hard for the past two years and he was sure that everyone had improved in their own right, the only one here that could be on par with a Marine Admiral was Zoro… He paused for a bit. Maybe Law as well. But still, he didn't know how the other was staying so calm without freaking out.

" _Room,"_ the aforementioned still totally unruffled captain raised his hand palm upwards as a blue light formed and swirled around in his palm. _"Shambles."_

"W-what are you doing?" Usopp tried to keep his eyes from popping out of his face as the bundle of chains and the single lock that held it in place disappeared from the door handle. The chains and lock were there for a reason, did this guy not understand the function of a lock and chain? It was to clearly keep dangerous things from getting out and this dude-

"There's been a slight change in plan," Law responded as he pushed open the door to the room. He beckoned to his crewmate, "Bepo, carry her."

"Aye aye, captain!" the polar bear acknowledged as he quickly ran into the room. The girl was still right where they had left her on the bed. Delicately picking her up, he swung her over his shoulders gently before leaving the room. As they reappeared, an audible sigh of relief escaped from the sharpshooter when he realized that the dangerous creature he had foreseen inside was nothing but his imagination.

"Who's that?" Robin asked as she glanced curiously towards the limp body hanging over Bepo's shoulder.

"We don't know either," Law replied, triggering a sound of confusion from Usopp. "I'll explain later, first we need to find the keys to these kairouseki handcuffs," he gestured towards the dull green handcuffs around the girl's wrists.

"Keys huh…" the archaeologist crossed her arms, one hand on her chin in thought as they cautiously ascended the steps.

"My guess is that the keys might be in that room," Law gestured in the direction they had come from, across the deck. On the second floor of the cabin that they had hid against earlier, was a room with painted white doors framed in gold and navy blue. "It was labeled as the Tenryuubito's room on the map we found, it would be our best bet."

Usopp clambered up the stairs after them, letting their voices drain out as he was reminded that they were still potentially in danger. They were going to get found by the Tenryuubito and either be killed by a Marine Admiral or maybe even locked up for the rest of their lives in Impel Down. If that was to be their fate he should've just kept quiet about seeing a ship in the first place, starving to death suddenly sounded much friendlier than it should. Various other scenarios continued to play in his head as he stared up at the sky forlornly.

As he was lowering his gaze, a small movement of green caught his eye and his train of pessimistic thoughts screeched to a halt. Wait a minute.

"Guys!" he frantically whispered to the rest who were in the midst of discussing their next plan.

"…ce out all we need is just to-" Law was saying to Bepo and Robin before he was suddenly cut off by Usopp. He glanced back at the panicked Strawhat, "what is it Nose-ya?"

"I swear I saw Zoro in the Tenryuubito's room!" the long-nosed man sputtered out as he pointed wildly towards the extravagant room across the deck. As they all immediately turned their focus towards the room, they could just make out a tuff of green hair bobbing up and down from the window.

"Zoro-ya?" Law repeated incredulously as the figure stood up straight and true enough the Strawhat swordsman's mildly annoyed face appeared just in view through the glass. Zoro was somehow inside the Tenryuubito's room when he shouldn't even be on this ship. Bepo's mouth fell open as did Usopp's.

Meanwhile, said swordsman was busy ransacking the room for a non-existent staircase. There was nothing really promising here, besides the mountains and mountains of money and gold that were stashed away in a corner of the room. He figured that it was lucky Nami didn't come with them, if not she would definitely have a crazy idea to rob this ship. That money hoarding woman probably wouldn't give two damns that this ship was a Tenryuubito's, as long as they could make away with all the treasure on board.

Suddenly a feeling that something small was coming his way cut off his thoughts and the swordsman quickly turned towards the window, one hand on his katana just in case. A small pebble hit the surface of the glass with a light 'clack' before dropping to the floor. It was then followed by several other pebbles when there was no response from within the room. Zoro suspiciously edged towards the window and peered out. Almost immediately his eye found Usopp at the side of the other cabin from across the deck, and he could somewhat see the others hiding out in the shadows as well.

The Strawhat sharpshooter waved excitedly at him and seemed to be on the verge of running out into the open when suddenly there was a sound of a door opening.

"Guh, just filthy," a pompous voice echoed across the deck, and Zoro ducked under the window from sight. He peered out a little from the edge of the window, seeing the Tenryuubito from before leaving the room he had entered earlier.

Usopp, on the other hand, was still thankfully out of sight. It seemed like they had also realized that this wasn't a Marine ship. But it was apparent that they still wanted something from him as the other was now trying to communicate with him through frenzied hand motions and body language, resulting in a weird dance.

Zoro stared at him with a blank face, not getting it. Law was trying very hard to pretend this wasn't happening.

When it seemed like Zoro really wasn't getting the message, Usopp started to mouth stuff along with his hand actions.

Switching between the actions of raising his hands above his eyes, pointing to a pair of handcuffs that were clasped around the wrists of someone Zoro couldn't see, and making a turning motion with his hands gesturing to the aforementioned handcuffs, Usopp mouthed, _"look, for, a, key."_

Zoro continued to stare and eventually, Usopp resorted to just slowly and exaggeratedly mouthing the word, _key_ , and constantly repeating the turning motion with his hands. A soft feminine chuckle along with a stifled laugh came from behind and Law broke out of his second-hand embarrassment, remembering that there were still two other people with him.

"Nico-ya, Bepo," Law turned to address them quietly. "Take the food and the girl back to the ship first, and start administering first aid."

"Aye aye captain," the polar bear whispered as he adjusted the girl on his shoulder slightly. He then picked up one of the sacks with the other hand and peered over the edge of the ship. There was some silent communication that went back and forth for a moment before both Robin and Bepo had disappeared with a confident leap off the ship.

When Law turned back, Usopp had finally stopped with his embarrassing form of communication and was simply just looking anxiously towards the now empty window. "I think he got the message," the younger man said under his breath as he gave Law a big smile and a thumbs up.

Law couldn't find any comment to give so he just sighed.

They peered out from the side of the wall, watching as the Tenryuubito edged closer and closer back to his room. Thankfully the World Noble had insisted on riding his guard instead of walking back by himself, buying them some time. However, when he started to make his way up the stairs and there was still no sign that Zoro had found what they were looking for, Law decided that it was too risky to stay. They could try other methods of removing her handcuffs later.

"We need to get Zoro-ya out of there now," Law whispered to Usopp, who nodded in response and picked up another small rock on the deck. Trying to be as discreet as possible, the long-nosed man flung it towards the window. It made a soft 'clack' on the glass and Zoro peered out again. Usopp motioned urgently towards the deck and then made a jabbing motion in the direction of the Polar Tang.

"Guh! How insolent, I thought I said I didn't want any of you around when I'm outside," the Tenryuubito's voice boomed over the deck, clearly directed at them. They both froze. "Guard, drag them out!"

Law made a mildly annoyed sound. Guess he had to use his powers. Just as he prepared to open a 'room' and transport them back to the Polar Tang, there was a loud piercing sound of glass breaking from above. It was only for a moment, but Law and Usopp could briefly see the figure of someone in robes jumping out of the window from the side of the ship.

"Guh! Who's there?" the World Noble shouted and a couple of Marines peered out of the dining hall where they were confined, unsure as to whether to leave the room or not. The Tenryuubito turned and glared at them, "don't just stand there you dimwits, make yourself useful! Start moving!"

" _Room, shambles,"_ Law said quickly and it was only an instant before both Usopp and him were back on the deck of their own ship. He caught sight of a flash of green entering the submarine, leaving a trail of water in its wake. Looks like Zoro made it back, though jumping out of the window seemed a bit uncalled for. "Hurry up you guys!" Franky hissed from the entrance, holding the door open for them.

The two men quickly ran inside and the submarine door was shut promptly. A low hum emitted throughout the room as the engines started up and the crew got ready to dive under.

"I-I can't believe we actually made it out of there without them noticing until the end," Usopp breathed heavily as they finally had the luxury to relax a little in the submarine's corridor.

"We didn't manage to get the keys to the handcuffs though, that'll be a problem," Law looked slightly annoyed. His powers were totally ineffective against kairouseki, if not they wouldn't even need the keys at all. Perhaps they could try to use machinery to cut through the handcuffs, but the girl would be at risk of losing her hands if so.

"Who says that we didn't get the keys?" a smug voice sounded, and he turned towards a dripping wet Zoro. The Strawhat dug into his robe for a moment, throwing out a fish or two before pulling out a small key that was the same color as the handcuffs. He tossed it over to Law who caught it gingerly. The keys were also made out of kairouseki so he preferred not to touch it but…

"Good work, Zoro-ya," he nodded as he started to walk down the corridor. He had a patient he needed to tend to.

"Who got caught?" the green haired man asked as he sat down and started to wring out his clothes. Usopp was clearly fine and the polar bear was the one that was carrying the handcuffed person earlier, Robin?

"Nobody," Law replied, just as he heard footsteps coming down the corridor. He glanced up, seeing Bepo running down at full speed.

"Captain!" the polar bear mink yelled, "come quick, something weird is happening to the girl!"


	5. Awakening

AN: Hi everyone! It took awhile to write this chapter because it was so long, but I hope you guys like it! Do remember to leave a review and feedback if you'd like, I would love knowing what you guys think and seeing that people enjoy my work really motivates me! (:

* * *

Bright lights blinded her as her eyes involuntarily fluttered open. A loud constant beeping noise was sounding noisily from somewhere to the left. Before she could even attempt to clear her head, her mouth took in a sharp breath as her body convulsed against her will. The strong smell of disinfectant entered her nose all the way down to her throat, making her feel like she was about to gag.

Where was she?

Her vision was blurred through her teary eyes, but she could somehow still make out a young man standing next to her and several other indistinguishable figures in the background. He looked familiar. Before she could think any further, her body lurched forward against her will. She felt her stomach muscles tighten repeatedly as nothing but strangled noises came up through her mouth.

Gasping for air, she fell back against a cold hard surface. It wasn't enough, but her body continued to heave forward again in a desperate attempt to expel something, anything from her stomach. She sucked in another sharp breath again. Her lungs were screaming for air as her diaphragm forcefully contracted once more and a warm rush of sour liquid spilled out from the corner of her mouth. She could barely find the energy to cough a few times before her entire body went limp.

"How's her heart rate?" she heard the young man ask over the loud pounding in her ears.

"Erratic," someone else replied from the other side of the room.

"Remove her handcuffs and let's get started," he said again.

"Aye aye captain!" the whole room resounded with voices, making her already messed up head ache even more.

Started? Started on what? As much as her head hurt, her mind went into overdrive thinking about all the possibilities that could happen. It couldn't be that it was time already, they haven't even reached Mariejois yet! Or perhaps, did they reach Mariejois already and she didn't notice as she drifted in and out of consciousness? Or did Aecus decide to move up the timing? Who was this man? Why was the crew calling him captain? It all just didn't make any sense, what was going on?

Soft voices whispered from one end of the table to the other as she felt her legs being restricted against the cold hard surface she was on. Then she felt some light tugging on her wrists as some men attempted to remove her handcuffs. If they had already reach Mariejois, or if Aecus had really moved up the timing, then this could only mean one thing. She tried to fight back, kicking feebly at her captors and emitting a weak snarl, but to no avail. Her body was still weak from all that has happened.

"Patient is gradually becoming more conscious, should we administer anesthesia?" someone asked.

"No, she's already over sedated," the young man spoke again, his voice calm. "If we give her anymore we might lose her."

"But then how should we proceed?"

"Just continue as per normal, we'll see how it goes."

The weight on her hands lifted as the handcuffs were removed and she instinctively cowered, bracing herself for the pill to be shoved down her throat. But instead, her hands were firmly grabbed and secured down by something on the metal table. When she was safely secured, there was a moment where nothing happened until she began to notice a small tingle in her left arm. It spread steadily throughout the left side of her body and to her alarm, evolved into a mild burning sensation. Was it already beginning? Her mind was screaming at her to move, but her body wasn't listening. The restraints disabled her from looking down, she couldn't see what was happening.

Suddenly without warning, pain seared through the mild burn, forcing her mind to alertness. She cried out as an electric shock from her left arm tore through her entire body and she jerked up as much as her restraints would allow. It felt like her entire arm was smoldering, as if skin had been ripped from bone. It continued to spread in increasing waves, creeping up her face and down to her thigh. In her desperation, she forcefully yanked her right hand free and grabbed hold of the young man's wrist.

He looked down at her, his eyes void of emotion.

"P-please… I don't want to die…" she weakly coughed out with a desperate sob.

Before the other could respond, her hand jerked backward as intense jolts of pain shot through the burning areas of her arm and face, like thousands of needles being stuck violently into her skin. Her mind threatened to pass out from all the stress and pain her body was receiving, but she refused, keeping her eyes fixated on the young man.

"You won't die," he replied, but his tone was cold.

By now the pain had rendered her unable to speak. A bullet would've been merciful right now, but she couldn't die. She refused to. But as much as her mind tried to fight passing out, the pain eventually won. Against her will, her consciousness gradually started to fade. Through her darkening vision, she saw the young man lean forward and bring one hand above her body.

The last thing she heard just before she blacked out entirely was a single word.

" _Room."_

* * *

"I'm so sorry," he heard Bepo say in depression as he made his way to the kitchen. Peering into the window, he could see Sachi, Penguin, Usopp, and Bepo chilling out in the dining area whilst Robin made tea on the counter. Zoro was probably off in the gym training as usual with the Wano natives, while Franky said something about checking the engines to make sure the sudden steep dive didn't take too much of a toll on the ship.

"She totally a human, a human!" Sachi's voice came next in clear protest.

"Yeah, we saw her on the operating table, she's a hundred percent human," Penguin agreed while nodding.

"I'm so sorry..." the polar bear's ears drooped before he spoke up again, "ah, but then captain mentioned that she was most likely a Zoan type devil fruit user."

"She is," Law spoke up as he pushed open the door, turning everyone's attention to him.

"Ah! Captain!" Bepo's ears perked up happily as he stood up in greeting. "How did the procedure go?"

"She'll be fine," the dark-haired man replied coolly as he cleaned off his hands with a white towel. He took a seat beside Bepo and continued to busy himself before a cup of steaming hot tea was placed in front of him.

"How do you know for sure that she's a Zoan type though?" the Strawhat archaeologist asked as he glanced up at her.

Law nodded in thanks and placed the towel he was using aside on the table. He closed his eyes in thought for a moment before answering, "it'll be easier if you see it for yourselves after she wakes up."

"But her condition is stable right?" Bepo asked anxiously, settling down back into his seat.

"Yeah, she's stabilized," Law glanced over at his crewmate. "But... due to the number of drugs she was given, something strange happened during the operation," he paused. "I can't guarantee her reaction will be one of a sane person when she wakes up, and we still don't know who she is yet."

"Well, she was being held captive," Robin sipped her tea calmly as she took a seat opposite Usopp. "The only logical explanation would be that she was a new slave being transported to Mariejois."

"But couldn't they have just placed a bomb collar on her to prevent her from escaping like what we saw in Shabody?" Usopp pointed out as he leaned back in his chair. "What's the point of locking her up like that?"

"She does have the hoof of the soaring dragon marked on her back, so she's definitely a slave of some sort," Law interjected. "But like what Nose-ya said, they went through a lot of unnecessary trouble to keep her captive."

"Does her face look familiar to you?" Robin spoke up again. "If she has a bounty it'll be easy to find out her identity."

"Ooh, smart thinking Robin!" Usopp exclaimed as he brought his fist down on other his palm.

Law shook his head, "I checked, she doesn't have a wanted poster." He glanced over to his crewmate who was sitting quietly beside him. "The only person here that seems to know her is Bepo."

Everyone turned their heads to look at the polar bear mink who jolted up in surprise. "W-well, to be honest everyone in our crew has met her, they just don't remember…" he trailed off before looking towards Sachi and Penguin. "Sachi, Penguin, don't you remember the mink that was always around with Clover?" he tried again to trigger their memories. "I mean, she was more reserved and didn't like to mix with us as much as Clover did, but she was always around whenever Clover was."

Both Sachi and Penguin scrunched up their faces and made a humming sound as they thought hard for a moment. The latter finally relented with a sigh, "well I think I can kind of remember someone like that…"

"But like we said earlier, this girl is human," Sachi scratched the back of his head. "Even if she is a Zoan type, their hybrid form still looks pretty different from their human form. How could you tell?"

"I'm sorry… I don't know…" the white polar bear sighed as his ears drooped forward again. "But the moment she said Clover's name, I immediately thought about that mink that was always following her around."

There was a moment of silence as everyone contemplated their own theories and guesses, before Law spoke up again, "don't think about it too much, we can ask questions later when she wakes up." He paused and took a sip of his tea before continuing, "although, like I said before, she's undergone some changes that she might not take too well to when she wakes up, and we've yet to find out who she really is as well as her reason for being on a Tenryuubito's ship. She could still potentially be an enemy."

The room remained silent, except for Bepo who was fidgeting a little in his seat as he looked down at his hands.

"Bepo, I already said she was stabilized," Law reminded him without needing to look over at his crewmate.

"No, it isn't that…" he mumbled. "I'm worried about Clover."

Everyone except Sachi and Penguin exchanged a look with each other at the name that they've been hearing all this while but never knew who it referred to.

"Who is this Clover?" Robin inquired curiously as she leaned forward unto one hand. "You've been mentioning her all this time but you've never specifically told us who she is, I'm assuming she's another mink from Zou?"

"We didn't meet anyone like that when we were on Zou though," Usopp remarked as he recalled the few short days they had spent on the gigantic elephant.

"Ah… you guys wouldn't have met her," Bepo looked up forlornly as he reached for an apple from the fruit basket in the middle of the table. "Clover went missing just before Jack arrived on Zou."

"Missing?" both Usopp and Robin repeated together in surprise. Law looked up from under his hat, this small detail catching his attention as well.

"Now that you mention it, we didn't see her fighting against Jack's army," Sachi said as he recalled the night that Jack started wreaking havoc on Zou. He thought that perhaps she had been on the other side of the battlefield or that she was tending to the injured, so he didn't think too much about it and focused on the battle at hand. But now that Bepo revealed this detail, he did find it strange that someone as hospitable as Clover didn't come send them off when they left Zou.

"I don't know the details, but I overheard some guardians talking about it as they were being treated for their injuries," Bepo sighed as he bit into the apple he had taken. "Clover was one of my good friends from when I was younger before I got lost at sea. We used to play together a lot."

"When we first arrived at Zou, she was the first one to greet us and bring us to Nekomamushi," Penguin added on, a dumb smile forming on his face.

"She would bring food for us almost every other day and ask us about our adventures at sea," Sachi's face reddened slightly with a light blush.

"Clover was totally cute too," they both said in unison and sighed like a couple of lovestruck idiots.

Law stared at them for a moment, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "Well, her friend won't be unconscious for long," he informed them. "We didn't give her any more sedatives in the procedure, so I'd say she should wake up tomorrow or the day after latest."

"Mm…" Bepo gave a small acknowledgment. It didn't seem like it reassured him too much, but it'll have to do for now.

"Torao!" a loud voice echoed down the hallway and it was only a moment before Franky burst into the kitchen launching himself into his signature pose. "I just finished checking out the engines, your ship is still in a _super_ condition!"

"Oi oi, don't do that here, the room's too small!" Usopp yelped as he narrowly missed being punched by Franky's gigantic arms.

The room erupted into laughter, and just like that the conversation about Clover and the strange girl had come to a close.

* * *

Pain.

Pain deep through her entire body, searing through each nerve and vein. It was worse than a branding iron being pressed against her back. Like acid slowly oozing down her entire body, slowly taking it's time to digest away her skin, muscles, and flesh to burn directly into her bones.

She wanted it to stop so badly that she would even die.

"It's okay, it's alright..." a soft reassuring voice echoed throughout her agony.

But… that's right, she couldn't die.

"Clo… ver…" she reached out towards the voice, but it had already turned into a blood-curdling scream that resonated throughout her body and awakened her senses.

"Please! Please give her back, she did nothing wrong, take me instead! Please, please!" she stood up and launched herself against the jail cell, begging and pleading the shadows walking past. But not a single one stopped. Not a single one. She rammed her head into the metal bars till her vision was tinted red with her own blood.

"I'll do my best to endure it…" the voice trembled, trying to keep calm. "I love you okay?"

"Clover!" she jolted up with a gasp.

She panted heavily for a moment, trying to grasp the situation before realizing it was a dream. Her vision cleared and she slowly realized that the blanket that lay messily on her lap was different from the one she usually had. The bed was a lot softer too. She looked around, her eyes trying to adjust to the darkness. The whole room was different. It was bigger. Cleaner. And there was a strong smell of disinfectant in the air. She was also strangely… Awake and in control.

Then as she tried to figure out what happened, she remembered. A weird dude had come into the room after the doctor had given her a dose of sedation, but she barely remembered anything because she passed out. Then, when she next woke up she was in some sort of operating room and the same weird dude was there too!

Ah! Her hands flew to her side, grabbing each arm. Arms intact. She touched her chest next. Nothing wrong there. She slowly wriggled her toes and slid her hands down her thighs. Legs intact. Nothing out of the ordinary except that half her body was wrapped in bandages. Letting out a sigh of relief she relaxed. Looks like the weird dude wasn't lying when he said that she wasn't going to die.

Then she remembered something else. She had… grabbed his wrist and literally begged him not to kill her. Her hands flew to her face as she felt her cheeks heat up. I mean true perhaps he might've killed her if she didn't ask him not to, but still! How embarrassing! She shook it off, Clover would laugh if she saw her now. She was always pointing out her awkwardness.

She then froze as reality hit her.

Clover.

Clover!

Before she could stop it, a wave of emotion swept over her and her eyes filled up with tears. She sat still for a moment as a quiet sob escaped her lips. But then as quickly as it had come, she shoved everything to the back of her mind and angrily wiped away the tears that dared to escape from her eyes. This was no time for feeling sad. She needed to get out of here as fast as possible.

She swung her legs over the bed and stood up quickly, but collapsed back unto the bed as she did so. She had to take it slow, her body was still feeling the effects of the sedation and her muscles were sore from all the time she hadn't used them. She carefully placed her feet on the ground, shivering a little as she did so. The floor was so cold. Then after she had prepared herself, she slowly stood up.

The way her dress fell against her legs told her that her outfit had changed as well. She looked down, her clothes from before were gone and she was wearing something that resembled a hospital gown. Was this a hospital? It certainly resembled a hospital room, but she could hear the soft whirring of engines in the background. Where the heck was she?

Making her way towards the door while using the walls as a guide, she quietly slipped out into the corridor. The hallway was dark and empty, save for a dim light shining out of a room nearby. Someone was probably inside. She decided to forgo that room first and see what else she could find, she was still weak and not in any form to face an enemy.

Feeling her way through the hall, she started to hear light snoring as she walked further down. It gradually grew, getting louder and louder till her hand came into contact with what felt like a door frame. She stopped, quietly shifting closer towards the doorway before peering inside. Then she froze. Male humans, at least twenty of them, were all sleeping soundly inside the room. Before she could even think about what to do next, a quiet voice spoke up.

"Who's there?"

It came from inside. A shiver went up her spine at the low intimidating voice and the feeling of needing to run for safety intensified.

She instinctively activated her abilities to flee back to the room she had woken up in and was pleasantly surprised that her Devil Fruit powers were still in working order even though she haven't used them in so long. As soon as she felt the dangerous presence disappear, she realized how weird it felt to finally be in control of her body again. She couldn't even remember how long it was since she had last been fully conscious.

Okay, next. She wanted to check out that dimly lit room she had noticed earlier. However, this time since there was a light source and she might be seen, she'd better take precaution first.

Law had just relit the candle that was almost going out by his table. He figured that he should head to bed soon as most of the crew were already sleeping after a hearty meal, but he wanted to finish this last chapter before he turned in. Then all of a sudden, he noticed a presence near the door. Turning sharply towards it he asked coldly, "who's there?"

For the briefest moment, he thought he saw a kid disappear from behind the door frame. A small girl who looked about five, with brunette hair in pigtails. His eyes widened as he stood up sharply and dashed forward towards the entrance.

As he entered the hallway, he glanced around for a moment before realizing that it was entirely empty. He made an annoyed sound as he relaxed, was it his imagination? Was he that tired? Despite his doubts, Law walked further down the hallway just in case.

Then he heard footsteps. But these footsteps were not of a young child, they were heavier and definitely more intimidating. He narrowed his eyes as he tensed up and quickly transported his sword that he had left behind earlier from the library into his hands.

"What, it's just you?" a familiar nonchalant voice sounded. His eyes adjusted slowly to the darkness, and he could just barely see the silhouette of the Strawhat swordsman walking down the hallway.

"What are you doing wandering the hallways at night, Zoro-ya?" Law relaxed, standing up straight and tapping his sword against his shoulder in mild annoyance. Did he mistake Zoro for a small girl? That logic was completely off the charts. He took a moment to glance into the room that they were standing in front of and could just make out the outline of a person sleeping soundly in a bed at the far end. It didn't make sense but it was the only explanation. Perhaps he was really tired.

"Me? I was going to ask you that!" Zoro spat back in annoyance. He thought there had been an intruder on the ship after he felt that weird presence outside the male dorms with his Haki, and left to check just in case. But it turns out it was just Law being creepy.

"Whatever," Law sighed as he walked forward. "I'll bring you back to the dorms."

"I can go back on my own," Zoro growled, walking forward in the other direction.

"It's _this_ way," the doctor said as he jabbed his thumb in the direction that Zoro had come from. How bad was this guy at directions seriously? The other swordsman froze, made a pissed off sound before he turned around and stormed forward. "I-I knew that!"

As their voices slowly disappeared down the hallway, she huddled up in her blanket and stared blankly at the wall she was facing. All hope of escape had disappeared from her mind. One was a significantly intimating man with three freaking swords slapped to the side of his waist. The other was an ice-cold weirdo doctor who had some kind of Devil Fruit power to transport things. Did _everyone_ on this ship know how to use Haki? They detected her even before she had a chance to observe them! They were all male humans to boot… And to top it all off she knew that she wouldn't stand a chance against the two she had just met. Her instincts were screaming at her to run as far away from them as possible.

How was she ever going to escape?


	6. Half and Half

AN: Hello! Please enjoy this chapter and do consider leaving a review if you've enjoyed it (:

* * *

Empty.

Law did another once over of the room he was standing in. It was definitely empty, he didn't feel any presences around or nearby either. He looked at the neatly made bed in front of him. Seems like she had enough manners to fold the blankets and fluff up the pillow nicely before she decided to disappear though.

The dark-haired man scratched the back of his head in annoyance as he walked out of the room and down the corridor. Thankfully they had been underwater since last night, so that meant that she was still somewhere on this ship. But where exactly…? He should probably try to find her before she killed herself by accident.

"Ara, Toraro-kun," a voice shook him out of his thoughts and he glanced sideways into the kitchen he had almost walked past. Robin was inside, a cup of steaming hot tea in one hand and a book in the other. She was wearing a cheerful smile like always, but for some reason, (he couldn't tell if it was the tone of her voice or if her smile seemed to be a bit brighter) she seemed to be suspiciously happier than usual.

"Robin," he greeted after a moment of caution, "did the girl from yesterday pass by here?"

"I didn't see her, is she not in the infirmary?" the archaeologist broke her smile for a surprised look.

Did she not go down this way then? Unless she had already passed by the kitchen even before Robin had arrived, though to be honest, he didn't think that anyone could possibly wake up any earlier than Robin could. Law shook his head and turned to leave.

"By the way," Robin called after him just before he was out of sight, "I didn't know your crew had such a charming young man."

He halted in his tracks at what she said and wondered if he heard wrong, "what?"

"Hm? Oh, it's nothing," the dark-haired lady chucked as she went back to her book.

He gave her a strange look before continuing down the hallway. Charming young man? He couldn't imagine any of his crew being anything but charming unless one of them decided to put on his best face to try and impress the Strawhat archaeologist. He had a hunch that it might've been either Sachi or Penguin fooling around again, but he didn't think either one could warrant praise from Robin no matter how hard they tried.

He tried to shake off the thought, this wasn't the time to be wondering who in his crew was trying to hit up Robin, he still had a missing patient to find. But just as he was about to completely focus on the task at hand, two familiar voices sounded down the corridor, engaged in a heated argument.

Speak of the devils.

"She had _red_ hair!" Penguin was protesting.

"No, she was obviously a _blonde_ babe," Sachi rolled his eyes in response. "Did you hit your head or something? How could you mistake blonde for red?"

"No, you hit your head, her hair was definit-"

"Ah! Captain!" the redhead cut off Penguin mid-sentence as he noticed Law approaching.

"Penguin, Sachi," he eyed them both, wondering what kind of argument about which girl they were having this time. He decided that he didn't want to know. "Have you seen the girl from yesterday?"

The two of them looked at each other before Sachi declared, "no, the girl from yesterday had black hair right? The only lady we saw was a _blonde_ woman," he glared at Penguin as he replied, placing a rather heavy emphasis on the word 'blonde'.

"No, she was a redhead," Penguin argued back through his teeth.

"Wait," Law stopped them before they could continue, catching onto a detail that Sachi had mentioned. He didn't remember having either a redhead or blonde woman on board the last time he checked. "Who're you talking about?"

Both of them seemed to melt at the thought of whoever they were thinking of, their expressions turning silly. "A really pretty lady passed by through here a while ago, asking for directions," Penguin sighed dreamily.

Their captain looked at them in disbelief, "and you neither questioned her about her identity or the fact that stowaways are impossible since we've been at sea for several days now."

That sentence seemed to click. Both Sachi and Penguin broke out of their trance and stared at each other, confused. "Yeah, why didn't we?" the redhead ruffled the back of his head in bewilderment. That was so weird, how he didn't feel like there was anything to be suspicious about that young lady earlier. It was like he was under a spell.

Law sighed in annoyance. What was up with today? First, his patient goes missing, then one of their crewmates decided to hit on Robin of all people, and now there was _another_ strange girl on their ship?

"Forget it, where did she head to?" he asked, dismissing it with a wave of his hand.

"She wanted to know the way towards the navigation room," Penguin answered in a half-defeated tone, still completely perplexed by the fact that they hadn't bothered to be the least bit suspicious or defensive earlier.

Without a reply, Law walked briskly towards the navigation room. He decided to deal with Sachi, Penguin, and Robin's admirer later. He had a hunch about what's going on, but he couldn't confirm it just yet. Just as he was thinking about what else could go wrong, Ikkaku walked past him quickly, completely not noticing him with her hands on her face. She was flushed red and looked like she was going to explode any moment.

"Ikakku," he called her. Law was starting to see some sort of pattern here.

"C-captain!" she jumped as she spun around quickly. "I'm so sorry, I-I didn't see you there!"

"Who did you meet?" he demanded, already predicting what she was going to say.

"H-how did you know?" Ikkaku stammered before she shied her eyes away and looked down towards the ground. "I don't know who he was but as I was on the way to the kitchen, I tripped and this... this young man caught me..." a shy smile spread across her face as she squeezed her eyes shut in happiness.

"Were you not suspicious in the least?" Law asked as he watched the love-struck woman.

She stopped for a moment and glanced up at him, her eyes now clouded with confusion and all traces of happiness gone, "No, actually." Ikkaku furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to think back to the moment she met the young attractive man. All she could think of at the time was how handsome he was, and how gentle his hands were. She turned back to Law to add on, but her captain had already disappeared down the hallway.

As he neared the navigation room, he noticed a familiar figure in bright orange standing outside and peeking in. With his large size, Bepo wasn't doing a very good job at being discreet, but at least it didn't seem like anyone inside noticed him yet.

"Bepo," he called quietly and the polar bear jumped at his voice. "Captain!" he crept over with a worried look on his face. "I was on the way to the navigation room to check on our progress, but there's a strange boy with a tail inside talking to Carwyn, who's acting all weird."

"I know," Law replied quietly as he inched closer to the open entrance. He could start to hear two people talking inside, and instantly picked up Carwyn's voice as well as another unfamiliar boyish voice.

"...so well," the unknown voice was saying shyly, "I kinda need to get to shore..."

"Ah… we're a few days away from the next island though, I'm sorry…" his crewmate replied sheepishly.

Law peered inside. A tall brunette boy stood with his back facing them, talking to Carwyn who looked starstruck. And as if finding out his crewmate was gay this way wasn't strange enough, a long white tail with a black tip extended from the boy's pants, staying perfectly still and flattened behind his legs. Quietly, Law walked into the room.

"Isn't there any way someone can get me off this ship though?" the strange boy asked sweetly as he leaned forward.

"I... I can try but..." the older man blushed furiously when he met the other's coy eyes, fringed with dark eyelashes. Then suddenly, the young boy's eyes widened in shock as he yelped and Carwyn broke out of his trance, noticing his captain standing behind them. "L-let go!" the boy protested, as he tried to reach behind him.

"I knew it was you," Law smirked as he yanked up the other's tail. As Carwyn's eyes laid on the furry appendage, his jaw dropped. The attractive boy before him dissolved into the air, revealing a young girl instead. The tail that his captain was holding onto disappeared as well.

She jumped backward, edging towards the entrance of the room. Shit, she didn't expect to get caught so fast. She had planned to alter the ship's course to the nearest island discreetly without them knowing, but it seemed that she was too slow in entrancing her victim. Damn ship was too big, if she didn't have to ask for directions so many times she probably would've completed her task and gone into hiding by now!

The weird doctor from yesterday continued coolly without waiting for a response, "we're all in a submarine underwater at the moment, so doing anything funny isn't going to be good for Devil Fruit users like you or me."

She gritted her teeth as she finally realized why the whole place was so enclosed and every wall was enforced with plates of steel. Of all places she could be, she was in a freaking submarine? What was the next best course of action? Her eyes flickered briefly towards the entrance, and Law caught on.

"Bepo," he called and the polar bear stepped into view at the door.

It took a moment, but her eyes gradually widened in recognition as she saw the Mink. "Y-you-teia were the pirates on Zou!" she hesitantly stepped back. What were they doing here? Why was she even in their ship? She glanced at the polar bear that was trying his best to give her an intimidating look at the entrance. In that moment, she had to fight back a laugh. He resembled Zepo in so many ways.

But, as much as she wanted to trust him he was with a bunch of humans. Although they had been fairly well received back in Zou, she was still doubtful of their intentions. Humans were a race that tended to say one thing but do the opposite, and there was never not a time she had witnessed that they weren't cruel even towards one of their own. She didn't expect any less of these humans here either. Besides, she didn't have time to play with them, she needed to get back to Airnaheim!

Looks like she didn't have a choice but to fight out of this one. Breathing in deeply, she tried to morph into her hybrid form to prepare for combat. But instead, a sharp pain lanced through her entire body and she fell to the ground in shock. She tried to get up on her feet again, but every movement just seemed to intensify the jarring pain. Her vision blotched with violent colors and she crippled onto the ground again with a cry.

"Your body is suffering from the aftereffects of having two drug overdoses," the dark-haired young man said indifferently as he dismissed her would've been victim from before with a wave of his hand. He then turned back towards her, "I would suggest you refrain from morphing unless you want to die."

Her eyes narrowed as she tried to focus through the pain and she glared up at him angrily, "w-what do pirates want from me?"

"Bepo wanted to save you," he replied simply as he gestured to the white polar bear still standing near the entrance.

For a moment she was so stunned that she forgot about the pain that was wrecking her body.

"You were there back on Zou right?" Bepo's voice sounded across the room, "you were always with Clover."

At the sound of her name, she felt a pang in her heart, as if the physical pain wasn't enough. After a few seconds of nothing but quiet, it seemed like the girl wasn't going to respond, but then she gave a weak nod.

"What happened to Clover after she went missing?" he asked slowly.

"Clover..." her lips trembled as she tried to think about what to answer, but another jolt of pain went through her body and she cried out, "ugh!"

"Save the questions for later Bepo, we need to get her to the infirmary," Law growled. The polar bear nodded and ran forward to pick up the shuddering girl. As they hurried towards the infirmary, a small part of her had to admit that she was thankful for the pain because then she had an excuse not to answer.

* * *

"Wait outside," Law told Bepo after the latter had placed the girl gently back on the bed. The polar bear nodded and stepped outside obediently. Then he walked over to a chair in front of a small desk and sat down. "Take off your robe," he said without a second thought.

"Excuse me?" the girl narrowed her eyes as she did the complete opposite and brought the robe closer to her. The pain by now had subsided to a low throb, so moving around was not as excruciating as before.

Law eyed her passively, "I'm not going to do anything to you, I need to see the extent of the damage done to your body."

The only response he received was an uncertain look mixed with suspicion as she sat there, unsure of what to do.

The doctor sighed, why did he have to deal with such difficult patients? He stood up from his chair, triggering a defensive glare from his patient, and walked towards the cabinets before reaching behind them. There was a moment as he adjusted whatever he was pulling out from behind, and then wheeled out a large object that was covered with a cloth.

"Look, if you don't believe me," he paused as he pulled off the cloth, revealing a full-length mirror beside him, "there's a mirror here." He glanced towards her and then walked towards the door, "I'll leave the room, remove your bandages and see for yourself how bad your condition is."

After the door clicked shut behind him, she stared at the mirror a little ways from her. Getting up, she approached it cautiously. She had nothing to lose just by looking into it, but she was starting to feel afraid of what she would see. Closing her eyes, she stepped in front of the mirror and carefully dropped her robe to the floor before undoing her bandages and letting them fall unto the floor as well. She shivered, now bare naked in front of the mirror. Taking a deep breath, she tried her best to mentally prepare herself. Then she opened her eyes.

Her eyes widened as she sucked in a sharp breath, while the rest of her body froze into place. The doctor wasn't lying. What the hell was this? She had been split into two. Not literally, but the left side of her body, from her face to a portion of her thigh, was covered in white fur. A single black tipped fox ear twitched at the top of her head. The right side of her body, on the other hand, was human.

"W... what...?" she whispered in disbelief. Her trembling hand gently traced the thin line near her nose where fur separated from skin.

"You've had too much of a drug named Artificial Induction of Re-transmutation, AIR for short," his voice came from outside as if he had expected her reaction all along. "It was developed by Vegapunk for the purpose of forcefully stimulating Zoan type users to morph into their full animal form."

He paused for a moment before continuing, "it was discontinued because its effects only lasted for a limited amount of time, and an over-dosage would result in the user eventually being unable to morph into any form at all, as well as the side effects you're seeing now. Fortunately, you're still at a salvageable stage, but of course whether or not you want to be helped is a different story."

She stared at her hands. One covered in fur, the other in skin. "You-teia can help me?" she asked, sharply turning towards the closed door.

"If you let me," he replied. "But I still need to have a look."

There was a short pause before she spoke again quietly, "come in."

As Law re-entered the room, he saw her holding her robe loosely against her body whilst rolls of bandages lay at her feet in front of the mirror.

"Y-you-teia should at least tell me your name before asking me to remove my clothes," she stammered in an indignant tone as she stormed over towards him.

Law sighed as he scratched the back of his head, "Trafalgar Law- ugh, what're you doing?" he took a step back as she came dangerously close and started to cautiously sniff the area near his neck and chest. She gave him a strange look before proceeding to move even closer to him. Rising up on her tiptoes to reach him, she slowly rubbed the furry part of her cheek against his, not giving him any chance to react. As she lowered herself back to the ground, she mumbled softly almost as if she didn't want to be heard, "garchu, m-my name is Mint."

Ah right. Law had almost forgotten that she was also a Zou native since she was human.

She stepped away after she had greeted him and after a moment of hesitation, she let her robe drop. Her single fox ear was pressed flat against her head and she avoided his eyes.

He wordlessly examined her body for a moment. The fur had fortunately only spread across a few areas of her body. On her face, it had narrowly stopped just before her nose and mouth, before traveling down towards the middle of her chest and stopping a little way down her thigh. It didn't manage to fully cover her behind either, and only half of her left buttock was covered in fur.

"It looks like it stopped spreading across your skin, which is good news," he finally said as he stood upright and went back to his chair.

There was a moment as the girl named Mint stared at him in confusion, "how is that good news?"

Law paused for a moment, looking at the other dryly, "I mean, do you want to be covered in fur?"

The fur on her left side of her body started to bristle a little as she pulled back on her robes. "I am a Mink, of course I should be covered in fur," she huffed.

There was a moment as Law stared at her. "You're not a Mink, you're a human," Law replied slowly.

"I'm a Mink!" she insisted. Mint noticed his look of disbelief and turned away while replying casually, "I don't know what you're talking about."

She's clearly in denial, Law thought to himself in annoyance. Great, he just added another idiot to the ship. "Sure, whatever," he finally said, not even bothering to argue. "But while you're receiving treatment you shouldn't morph unless you want to die."

"So... I'll have to stay like this?" she mumbled, looking at herself in the mirror. She looked like a badly made patchwork doll.

"You'll recover in due time," Law replied as he prepared a syringe and beckoned her over. "This antidote will help ease the effects of the drug."

She glanced at him and then her eyes widened in horror at the needle. "Isn't there any other way to consume it?" she asked warily as she took a step back.

"No," he said coldly, tearing open an alcohol swab packet without breaking eye contact.

She hung around the edge of the room uncertainly. She did need to recover fast so she could return to Airnaheim. But seeing the needle made her think back to the times that she was forced to be sedated, it made her heart shrink in terror. But, she gritted her teeth and forced herself to walk over to where the doctor was sitting. She needed to do it for Clover's sake, she couldn't possibly fight them without having access to her other forms.

Mint stiffly sat down beside him and rigidly held out her hand.

"It'll hurt less if you relax," Law commented, noticing her shaking arm as he swiftly swiped the cotton swab over her skin. Mint tried to breathe and think about happier memories, but she still needed to fight back tears as she felt the sharp prick of the needle and the uncomfortable pressure of something foreign entering her bloodstream.

"It's done," she heard the doctor's voice say and Mint let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. "Hold this," he pressed a dry cotton pad to her arm now and after she took over, withdrew back to the desk.

She quietly sat as he packed up his equipment, "thank you," she mumbled after a moment of silence.

Just then, there was a knock on the door and both of them glanced up. "Can I come in now captain?" Bepo asked from outside. There was a grunt of affirmation from Law and the polar bear entered the room nervously. Mint felt her gut twist as she anticipated the question that Bepo wanted to ask. He fidgeted near the entrance and she bit her bottom lip.

"Do you know... what happened to Clover?" he finally blurted out.

She gritted her teeth, wanting so badly to lie. Clover had always reminisced about Bepo on occasion even after Mint had arrived on Zou, telling her about her childhood friend and wondering where he was in the world. And Clover was so happy, the happiest she had ever been Mint dared to say, when Bepo finally returned to Zou. But it was precisely because they were such good friends after being separated for so long that she couldn't lie to him now. She looked up at him, feeling tears prickle in her eyes.

"I'm so, so sorry..." she held back a sob, "Clover... is dead."


	7. Devil Fruit

For Mint, fitting into a society where even though there was little difference on the outside, but on the inside where she clearly knew there was a racial barrier was... difficult, to say the least. What made it even more difficult was how accepting and open the minks were. Since day one they had always been the most hospitable, most friendly beings she had ever met. It was too good to be true, so much so that thoughts of them just putting on a happy face to tolerate her presence haunted her at the back of her mind every day.

Pedro assured her there wasn't going to be any problems, she was brought up exactly like how a young mink would've been brought up on Zou. But perhaps she was just paranoid because facades weren't strange to her. So she abandoned her human form completely, opting to stay in her hybrid form in order to 'fit in'. Needless to say, staying in her hybrid form constantly save for times she was alone, like in the toilet or when she was in her own room, started to take a toll on her.

She started to feel more lethargic during the night when she was on guard duty, and it often resulted in her falling asleep on the job. Her physical strength weakened, and her fighting ability soon started to lack in comparison to the rest of the guardians. Eventually, the guardian council decided that they needed to re-evaluate her suitability for being a guardian. This sent her spiraling into depression, she didn't know what else she could do in order to 'fit in' and maintain her physical form.

Then, after the third day of refusing to morph out of her hybrid form in a foolish attempt to increase her stamina, she finally fainted. And when she came to, she was in her own bed being tended to by her housemate, a red fox mink by the name of Clover that was about her age. Clover had always attempted to be friendly whenever they met at home, but she was usually too tired to bother socializing by the end of the night and prioritized retiring into her room so she can revert back to human form.

"I've never seen you-teia in your lesser mink form before," Clover had remarked cheerfully as she leaned over and gently wiped away the sweat from her forehead. "Your lesser mink coat is so beautiful and smooth, why don't you-teia ever wear it?" she asked, her pale green eyes shining with genuine curiosity.

At this point, Mint had just stared at her in disbelief before her face erupted into a full-on blush as Clover's words sank in. Her bare skin was beautiful? No one had told her that before. She had just wanted to fit in so badly with the minks so much so that she was willing to forgo her human blood altogether. "I-I..." she stammered, not knowing how to react.

After trying and failing to come up with a coherent sentence, Clover just chuckled, "you're so awkward, I like you." She stood up and walked over towards the room door before looking back and giving her a bright smile, "you-teia should use your lesser mink form more often, I'm sure I won't be the only fan of it."

Mint felt a small warmth bubble in her heart and suddenly she had a weird feeling in her gut, the kind of feeling that made her feel like if she didn't do anything now she'll regret it later. So out of impulse, she had exclaimed, "will you-teia be my friend then?"

Clover stopped in her tracks. For a moment she was silent and the younger girl instantly regretted with all her being that she had blurted that out, the mink was going to think she was a total weirdo and avoid her for the rest of eternity- "were we not already?" a voice interrupted her thoughts and she looked up to see a rather amused Clover.

Then suddenly it hit her. Since she arrived, she had always been so self-conscious, she had always been searching for validation from strangers. Had she been doing it wrong all this time? Perhaps... she should've been searching for friends that accepted her as she was. At that moment, Clover became like the sun to her. So effortlessly herself, drawing in everyone around her with the warmth of her smile. Almost as if it was instinct, Mint wanted nothing more than to be close to her.

But as all stars flicker out in the end, so did her sun.

* * *

"I'm so, so sorry," Mint just kept apologizing and apologizing, and at this point, it didn't seem like it was directed at Bepo anymore. Perhaps she thought that if she apologized enough it would be able to reach the one person that she had failed to protect.

Bepo, on the other hand, was silent. He couldn't process this information. He literally just saw Clover a week or so back on Zou. She was happy, healthy and all smiles whenever they crossed paths. They talked about old times and she even played songs and sang for him in a small clearing within the Whale Forest. She was always so vibrant and bursting with life; How could someone like her suddenly be dead?

It was near impossible to imagine someone like Clover... dead. He just couldn't imagine it. He didn't want to.

"I... I couldn't protect her," Mint's small voice broke through his thoughts. Her single fox ear was pressed flat against her head that hung low and she was visibly trying not to shake. She didn't know how Bepo was going to take this, he had only just found out that his dear brother had passed, _seven freaking years_ after it actually happened, and now it was his childhood friend. He didn't deserve this. "I'm so sorry."

"How?" he asked, his voice cracking towards the end. Mint stayed quiet as she stared at the ground in front of her. She didn't want to tell Bepo yet, not just yet. She swallowed a lump in her throat. How could she possibly tell him about the sickening way Clover died? She couldn't bring herself to do it, for his sake, and her own sanity.

"Can you give me some time?" she blurted out eventually as she finally lifted her head towards the polar bear. One hand covered the right side of her face but even so, she could still see him shaking through her other eye. She flinched as he made eye contact with her and she turned away and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to unsee the grief in his eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm not ready... to talk about it yet."

There was a moment of silence before Bepo spoke again. "It's okay," he mumbled as he lumbered up to her, "I'm sorry, it must be hard for you too." Mint's eyes widened at his words as he enveloped her in a big bear hug. It felt was so warm, so open and understanding, that her heart shattered into pieces and a stream of silent tears started to run down her face. She rubbed her cheek against his in response, and just like that they grieved together in silence.

"Do you want to get something to eat?" the polar bear asked as he finally let go of her. He used the sleeves of his boiler suit to wipe away the tears that he had shed earlier. As much as he wanted to know what happened to Clover, he didn't want to force Mint to relieve any bad memories, especially since she was recuperating now.

The smaller girl nodded slowly as she stood up without removing her hand from the right side of her face. "Do you-teia guys have some bandages, an eye patch and a surgical mask I could use?" she asked in a quiet voice, her eyes fixated on the floor.

It was a simple request, one he could easily fulfill. Bepo looked around - he also realized that his captain had left while they weren't noticing - and headed straight for the cabinets. He grabbed what she had asked for, though he didn't know what she was going to use them for.

"Thank you," she smiled briefly at the polar bear as he handed her the eye patch and mask, and walked towards the mirror that was still standing in the middle of the room. She wore the eye patch over her right eye first before putting on the mask next, making sure it covered the entire lower half of her face. Then, she swathed her right hand with bandages all the way to her elbow where the sleeve stopped.

"You don't need to actually wear that you know," Bepo commented quizzically as she turned back towards him. The only visible part of her face was where white fur had sprouted from, and she had covered up her human skin entirely.

"I know," Mint laughed weakly, "I'm sorry, I just... can't accept my human blood anymore."

* * *

Meanwhile, the Strawhats along with a couple of the Heart Pirates including Law, were engaging in a card game of sorts around the dining table. The Wano natives looked on closely, intrigued by the strange game that was deemed enjoyable by staring intensely at each other's faces whilst discarding and acquiring pieces of cards. The goal of the game was to apparently collect a set of cards all whilst putting on your best poker face so that your competitors wouldn't realize which set you were collecting. Interesting.

As Ikkaku discarded a card of her own into a pile in the middle, Usopp eagerly made a grab for it before realizing he shouldn't be showing this much excitement in the game. He slowed down just before his hand reached the pile and picked it up with a very obviously feigned hesitance that was almost comical.

"So, what happened to the girl?" he asked casually as he regarded another card in his own hand for a moment before discarding it.

"She's alive," Law replied coolly as he contemplated Usopp's discarded card for a moment before deciding against it and taking a new one from the deck instead. He then discarded another one from his hand seemingly without a second thought.

"Did you guys manage to find out who she is?" Robin commented as she claimed the card Law discarded indifferently and placed down one of her own.

"Her name is Mint and she seems to genuinely be a Zou native, by her speech patterns and actions," the captain mused as he scanned the room for anyone that might have too smug of a smile on their face or anything similar.

There was a frustrated sound from Franky - he completely failed to keep his emotions in check during these kinds of games - when he realized that Robin's card did nothing for his set. "Ow! But she's human isn't she?" he distractedly asked as he grabbed a card from the deck instead. His eyes brightened at the card that he picked, _"super!"_ he exclaimed as he discarded another card from his hand.

"You know, you're just giving yourself away like that Robo-san," Shachi remarked as he snatched up the card that Franky had thrown out before discarding one of his own. "Did you find out anything about Clover as well?"

"She's..." the doctor paused for a moment, remembering how Mint had fiercely rejected her human origins, "complicated, and according to her, Clover is dead," Law replied in a tone a little too callous for the second half of his sentence.

This caused the whole room to forgo the card game completely and turn towards him. All poker faces were gone, replaced by startled expressions. In Zoro's case, the swordsman had just simply turned his eye towards him without even moving his face. The biggest reactions came from his own crew members unsurprisingly, as they were the only ones to actually meet Clover in person.

"Wait, what?" Penguin broke the silence first in disbelief as he laid down his hand, the game was no longer important now that their captain had suddenly told them of Clover's death.

"That's what she told Bepo earlier," Law shrugged, recalling the short conversation that his crewmate and the young girl had just before he decided to give them some privacy to grieve. "She didn't say how or why," he continued, already predicting the next question they were going to ask, "she told Bepo to give her some time, so I would suggest you guys refrain from asking her as well."

Shachi scratched the back of his head. They weren't close to Clover, so it didn't hit them quite as hard, but he was more worried about their particularly sensitive crewmate. Bepo had only just found out that his brother had passed away several years ago, would he be alright handling the fact that now his childhood friend had also died? He exchanged a look with Penguin who seemed to share his sentiments, and a silent agreement that they would ditch the card game to go search for Bepo passed between them.

Just as they were about to stand up and leave, the door to the kitchen clicked open and there stood the white polar bear in question. "Ah, everyone's here," he commented in surprise as he noticed the big group of people inside the room.

"Bepo!" the Heart Pirates chorused in unison as they swarmed over to the mink, burying into his thick fur as they tried to comfort him all at once. He was overwhelmed for a second, wondering where all this sudden affection was coming from, before he caught sight of Law leaning back in his chair in a corner. He realized that their captain must've told them about Clover and now his nakama were all probably worried about him.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled eventually after the sympathetic murmurs around him died down.

"Don't apologize for nothing!" Shachi and Penguin exclaimed as they released themselves from his fur and stepped back. It was then they realized there was another person present as well, a smaller mink-like creature standing behind Bepo nervously.

Mint was in a dilemma, did she greet them? They were humans so was there even a need for the customary garchu? When she had greeted the weirdo doctor earlier he had reacted pretty strangely to it as well, so perhaps she wouldn't need to greet them. But what if they thought she was rude? Would it be better to come off rude or invasive? She eventually decided to just watch Bepo and see how he reacted to the other humans inside.

"Ah, this is Mint," the polar bear introduced the other as he realized that his crewmates had noticed the girl behind him. "I brought her here for something to eat," and as if on cue, the girl's stomach rumbled and she sharply looked away in embarrassment.

He herded the girl inside. As she stepped into the light, everyone's eager expression to see who was the strange girl on the ship, turned into one of scrutiny. They eyed her from top to bottom, and then back up to the top again. A low hum resounded throughout the room as they deliberated on what kind of impression they should even have of her.

When Law had said she was complicated, they weren't sure what to think of it but now they understood. She didn't look completely mink, but neither did she look human. There was only one pointy ear at the top of her head and the visible portion of her face was furry as well, but there was no hint of a muzzle underneath her mask, and they caught some flashes of human skin between the gaps here and there. What on earth was she? As they continued to stare and attempt to come to a conclusion, their eyes widened curiously as her white fur started to bristle under their gaze and her single ear twitched.

"Nnaa... don't keep looking at me like that!" she finally exclaimed in annoyance as she turned her body away from them.

"Sorry sorry," Franky was the first to apologize as he gave out a boisterous laugh, "we were given the impression that you were human so we were kind of expecting something else."

"W-wasn't she human the last time we saw her?" Usopp stammered as he tried to match the girl in front of him to the girl in his memories. He only saw her for a few brief moments yesterday when they had rescued her from the Tenryuubito's ship, but he was pretty sure she looked completely different since then. Robin, who also had seen her before she was rushed to the operating room, made no comment and looked on curiously.

Bepo ushered her into the room, seating her right opposite his captain. "I'm not human," she growled as she shot a glare at the weirdo doctor in front of her.

Law returned her glare with a nonchalant expression. This girl was really adamant about rejecting her human origins seeing the way she had tried to cover up her human skin completely. To be honest it didn't really concern him but perhaps he had undermined the importance of it to her.

"Like I said, she's complicated," he remarked indifferently. He didn't know why this girl had so much hatred for her human blood, nor did he care, but if she really didn't want to identify as human then so be it. Even if not now, she'll have to come to accept it sooner or later. "But what is definitely true is that she's a Zoan type Devil Fruit user and the one that caused various people around the ship to lose their heads this morning."

"Ah!" there was a united voice of realization as all the victims - Shachi, Penguin, Ikkaku and Robin - all sharply turned towards the young girl who sat back in alarm with her pointed ear shooting up straight. Shit, she had almost forgotten about that after all that had happened afterward.

"Well, I mean," she feigned a cough as she awkwardly averted her eyes from the people she had targeted this morning, "I had to get around somehow."

There was an audible sigh that passed through the room as the victims realized she had a point. She didn't know whether they were friend or foe when she woke up after all. Well, it wasn't a big deal since she didn't physically harm them. "Tea?" Robin eventually offered with a cheerful smile as she got up from her seat to walk behind the counter.

"M-mint!" she blurted out suddenly before quickly regaining her composure as the whole room stared at her, "...tea please," she mumbled the rest of her sentence.

"What kind of Zoan type are you though?" Shachi asked as he started to pack up the discarded cards on the table since nobody had interest in continuing the game anymore. "I thought Zoans only had three forms that were based on their animal," Penguin continued, "how were you able to have like... four, or five human forms?"

"Nnaa... I ate the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Kitsune," Mint conceded to their questions as Robin approached her with a cup of warm tea. Instinctively as the older woman set down the tea in front of her, she leaned in and gave the other a friendly rub with her cheek as a gesture of thanks. Robin was stunned for a moment as the soft fur brushed against her skin, she was so fluffy!

Mint continued without noticing, "I'm able to target a single individual to glimpse into their heart and transform into either a person they'll be attracted to or a person that they'll be compassionate to."

A Mythical Zoan huh, how rare. Law immediately thought back to the night that he had glimpsed his dead sister right outside the library. At that time he thought that he was either tired enough to mistake Zoro for a small girl, or he was straight up hallucinating. That should've probably been her doing as well.

"I'm also able to put people into a trance-like state temporarily with my voice," she stared at her tea, realizing she wouldn't be able to drink it with her mask on. "So that's why even though you-teia guys would've normally been suspicious of my presence, I had already induced you-teia into believing that I was harmless," she glanced up with a slightly apologetic expression on her face at her former victims.

"That kind of power is perfect for assassinations isn't it?" Robin remarked cheerfully as she took a seat beside the younger girl.

Mint stared blankly at her for a moment, not knowing how to react to this very blunt but very true statement. Her face twitched as she fought back a laugh. "Don't give her any ideas!" Usopp yelped as he shot up from his chair.

"Well, yes kinda," Mint took a moment to breathe and regain her composure. "The transformation only works if my target doesn't know I'm fake, so that means I can't directly transform in front of them. If they become suspicious of me in the slightest, my transformation wears off without any indication for me that I've been caught."

"And the tail?" Law spoke up from the corner, recalling catching her earlier. As he had observed from the back, she had a tail pressed flat against her legs as if she didn't want anyone to see it, but technically it would've just been easier to not leave it hanging out.

"Nnaa..." she sighed as she closed her eyes, this was turning into a full out interrogation and she didn't have a way to stop it, "I can't hide my tail when I'm in disguise and if my target catches sight of it, my transformation also wears off."

"Can you replicate people, Fluffy-chan?" Franky asked inquisitively. If she could that would definitely be a very useful ability. Though he would definitely like to see what kind of transformation she would have if he was her target since he didn't particularly take interest in either gender.

 _'Fluffy-chan_?' she blinked, not knowing how to react to the huge man's new nickname for her. "I-I can't take on the form of another person or duplicate any of my transformations on a whim," she stammered hurriedly, deciding to ignore it for now. "Even though I'm the one casting the spell, I can't see what I'm transforming into other than the view I get from looking down, I only see my original form in reflections."

"How did you appear different to the both of us?" both Shachi and Penguin demanded as they leaned across the table towards her, eager to ask their own question. They had argued for almost an hour earlier regarding this topic, they thought it was only fair that they should know.

"Hey! Don't get so close!" she squeaked as she tried to lean as far back as she could into her chair. "Look! If... It's just minor features, I can slightly alter my transformations," she exclaimed rather loudly before shrinking back into her chair. "D-does that answer your questions?"

"We still have one problem though," Zoro spoke up after being quiet the entire time. "We can't bring her with us to Wano unless she intends to meet up with the rest of the minks there."

The whole room erupted into thoughtful murmurs and agreements. That was true, they were going to war with a Yonko, they couldn't possibly drag someone they barely knew into it. Unless she wanted to meet up with the other minks that would eventually meet up with them there. But even so, they didn't know how long the minks would take to reach Wano.

"You-teia guys are heading towards Wano?" Mint's fox ear perked up at the mention of the name.

"Yeah, I mean technically speaking the minks from Zou will be meeting up with us there eventually as well, so you _could_ follow us," Usopp said as he scratched the back of his head.

"No, I don't want to go to Wano," she said quietly. "But could you-teia drop me off at Airnaheim instead?"

Everyone exchanged looks with each other, "Airnaheim?"

* * *

AN: Okay so I noticed there might be some people that are unclear on certain things, so let me just clarify 3 of them here.

Mint is a human, who has eaten the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Kitsune. She has a past with minks and has lived with them on Zou for a period of time, which is why she has the same mannerisms and speech pattern as they do - more will be revealed at a later timing. However, due to over-consumption of AIR pill, her body is now suffering from the side effects where a portion of her body is her Devil Fruit form whilst the rest is human.

The AIR (Artificial Induction of Re-transmutation) pill is a drug that was invented by Vegapunk for Tenryuubitos that wanted to keep their Zoan type Devil Fruit slaves in animal form for long periods of time. However, it was discontinued because of the side effects that come with consistent consumption of the drug. Side effects may include, a temporary inability to morph, distortion of physical appearances between forms, intense pain during morphing, permanent damage to the owner's body, permanently being unable to morph between forms for the rest of their lives.

The Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Kitsune is a Mythical Zoan type Devil Fruit. One of its abilities is to peer into a singular target's heart and take on either one of two appearances; one that the target will feel sympathy and compassion to or one that the target will feel physically attracted to. In these transformations, Mint is unable to hide her tail. If her target becomes suspicious of her or if her target catches sight of her tail, the transformation will wear off. There is no indication for her when the transformation wears off, so she must be extremely observant of her target's body language in order to tell if she's been found out. She's also unable to fully see what kind of person she turns into other than just looking down at her own body. When she looks into the mirror, it'll only show her original form to her.


End file.
